As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses continually seek additional ways to process and store information. One option available to users of information is an information handling system. An information handling system generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements vary between different users or applications, information handling systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in information handling systems allow for information handling systems to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition, information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
An information handling system, including any computer system, typically includes a power supply. A power supply converts input power into one or more voltage potentials for use by components of the information handling system. The power demands or requirements of information handling systems are increasing, especially in the case of some modern server computers. As a result, some server computer systems have a potential power demand that is greater than safety limits imposed on input power that can be delivered to the input of the power supply of the computer system. As an example, assume that a server computer requires 1550 watts of power and that the server computer is coupled to a 100 volt A/C line with a 15 amp circuit breaker, as is typical in some input voltage configurations in Japan. The server computer may include a power supply with a 78% efficiency rating and a power factor of 97%. In this example, the maximum power deliverable by the power supply of the server computer is 1135 watts (100 v A/C×15 A=1500 W input power; 1500 W input power×0.78 power supply efficiency×0.97 power factor). As can be seen from this example, the output power of a power supply is limited by the voltage and amperage of the input line. The voltage and amperage of the input line may vary by country. In addition, some countries or standards bodies limit the amperage of circuit breakers, further limiting the input power delivered to a power of an information handling system.
As a technique for increasing the input power available to an information handling system, the power supply and its associated information handling system could configured to draw power from a high line input (180–264 VAC). An information handling system could also operate on the basis of three phase power, thereby increasing the amount of input power available to the power supply of the information handling system. Both of these alternatives, however, increase the cost and complexity of the information handling system, and render the system less flexible, and therefore less marketable, in terms of the ability of the system to operate with more common sources of input power. As another option for equating the power demands of the system with the input power available to the system, the power demand of the computer system could be limiting by selectively throttling the components of the computer system. The selective throttling of the system is not advantageous, however, as this reduces the performance or output of the system.